4 US drone operators say lethal drone strikes are fueling the expansion of groups like ISIS

Lt. Col. Leslie Pratt/AP Lethal U.S. drone strikes in the Middle East are fueling hatred towards the West and spurring the expansion of Islamist militant groups such as ISIS, a group of former U.S. military airmen said on Thursday.

Four former drone operators have written an open letter to President Barack Obama, asking him to reevaluate his administration's use of drones, which critics say can engage innocent civilians and drive angry survivors into militancy.

"You harm these people, and they're going to want revenge," former Staff Sergeant Brandon Bryant, who operated drones for the U.S. Air Force Predator program between 2007 and 2011, said at a news conference in New York.

Supporters of drone strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq say they are highly accurate, and that they spare American soldiers from the dangers of on-the-ground combat. A representative for the Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.

Bryant and the other former airmen said they often killed non-combatants inadvertently and had the impression they were considered cowardly by relatives of victims, and that the survivors often sought revenge on the West for what they considered pointless deaths.

Bryant, who has spoken out against the strikes since leaving the program, described negative effects on the Americans who controlled drones to execute deadly strikes.

Michael Haas, a former senior airman who trained other U.S. drone pilots, said operators become desensitized because they conduct strikes from a distance, sometimes half a world away from their targets.

As an example of the callousness they developed, Haas said operators sometimes used the term "fun-sized terrorists" to refer to children in target areas.

In response to the psychological trauma, Haas said many operators developed alcohol and drug addictions.

All four former servicemen, including former senior airmen Cian Westmoreland and Stephen Lewis, said they suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Attorney Jesselyn Radack, a former ethics adviser to the U.S. Department of Justice who is representing multiple former drone operators, said all her clients suffer from PTSD.

Most are unemployed, Radack said, some are homeless, and many have substance abuse problems. They can also have difficulty accessing disability benefits because they did not engage in on-the-ground combat.

"(It) is a huge problem that this program is leaving people in such a state," Radack said.

The full letter has been included below:

Dear President Obama, Secretary Carter and Director Brennan:

We are former Air Force service members. We joined the Air Force to protect American lives and to protect our Constitution. We came to the realization that the innocent civilians we were killing only fueled the feelings of hatred that ignited terrorism and groups like ISIS, while also serving as a fundamental recruitment tool similar to Guantanamo Bay. This administration and its predecessors have built a drone program that is one of the most devastating driving forces for terrorism and destabilization around the world.

When the guilt of our roles in facilitating this systematic loss of innocent life became too much, all of us succumbed to PTSD. We were cut loose by the same government we gave so much to ­­sent out in the world without adequate medical care, reliable public health services, or necessary benefits. Some of us are now homeless. Others of us barely make it.

We witnessed gross waste, mismanagement, abuses of power, and our country's leaders lying publicly about the effectiveness of the drone program. We cannot sit silently by and witness tragedies like the attacks in Paris, knowing the devastating effects the drone program has overseas and at home. Such silence would violate the very oaths we took to support and defend the Constitution.

We request that you consider our perspective, though perhaps that request is in vain given the unprecedented prosecution of truth­tellers who came before us like Chelsea Manning, Julian Assange, and Edward Snowden. For the sake of this country, we hope it is otherwise.